Get Cloud Server Under AWS Free Usage Tier

This is the first post among my AWS tutorials series for developers and beginners. The goal of this article is to show you, from my point of view, why you may want to use AWS over other cloud service providers (such as Rackspace, HPCloud, etc.) and how you can sign up for an AWS free usage tier account very easily.

Why Choose AWS?

I am a beginner myself as a cloud service user and haven’t used any cloud service other than Amazon. But like others, I analyzed them and decided that AWS is better for beginners, at least. The following are the key points which I value most:

• One-Year Free Trial: This is the most important reason I chose AWS. I can try their service without paying a dime and leave if I’m not happy without wasting money. On the other hand, Rackspace doesn’t offer a free trial period, and HP Cloud’s free trial is for only the first three months.
• Flexible Options To Choose From: AWS offers several various options/configurations, which will definitely help you choose the server that best fits your budget. Other providers don’t offer such a wide range of options.
• Even more savings by Reserved Instances: Amazon has discounted hourly rates if you want to rent their service for one or three years. So, as long as you like their service and are happy with the performance, you can plan for the long term to save huge. Check their pricing details to know the discounted hourly price. Reduced prices are also available on spot instances.

Mixpanel also explained a high-level comparison between AWS and Rackspace, which may help you more.

However, I am not on the AWS side at all. That’s why I mentioned that I think it’s better for beginners. I have also heard good things about Rackspace, and one day, I would also like to check their service. Hopefully, I will be able to give you an advanced-level comparison then.

Prerequisites Before The Free Trial?

Well, there is a prerequisite for signing up with an AWS free usage tier account. You will need to have an International online purchase activated Credit/Debit card. Some of you may not have this. But the good news is that getting one isn’t much complicated. I have a Payoneer master debit card; you can give it a try, too.

Amazon requires this because, while you are using your free trial, they won’t restrict you from using their paid service. They will charge your card only if you need to extend your existing service beyond the free trial and/or get a paid service that isn’t in the free tier.

Let’s Sign Up With AWS Free Usage Tier:

Well, this part is simple enough, just like other sites. However, just to let you know, if you already have an Amazon account as a customer to purchase products, you can use that account to link to this AWS account as well. Follow this AWS free usage tier sign-up link to register.

Which Services You Will Get For Free?

Well, they already outlined it in detail on their AWS free tier services page. However, as a beginner (I assume you are), you may not feel comfortable with the service names and their corresponding functionality. So, I am going to outline those in much easier terms:

• Virtual Dedicated Server In the Cloud: Amazon has their name to refer to this, which is EC2. This is the main server computer, where you will do most of the things. You can get 2 of these ‘micro’ servers(one with Windows server OS and one with any Linux OS they have) for full-time per month. However, you can also get an additional server for free. Then, you will need to run your ec2 instances half of the time and keep them stopped half the time of day/week/month. That means you just divide their given 750 hours among two servers, and you are fine.
• Dedicated Database Server: A comparatively new addition to the AWS free usage tier, known as RDS. You will get a database server full-time(24*31 hours) per month. You can choose from MySQL/oracle/MS SQL server. You can get noSQL databases as well. ( ‘DynamoDB’)
• Free Storage And Bandwidth: You will get 5GB of storage capacity (Excluding EBS, which is included in EC2 😉 ), which they call S3. You will also be able to have 15GB of traffic(incoming + outgoing) for free.

All of the above-mentioned services are monthly for a full year. There are some more services, but in brief, these are the most required to run a web server.

Is There Any Hidden Charge?

It’s natural if this question comes to your mind. As there are a lot of different services, each charged separately, and only a portion of them are free, it may sometimes be confusing whether you can run a fully functional web server completely free of charge or if you will have to pay for some part.

As per my experience, you can run a cloud server completely free unless you wish to add a domain to your server. Amazon’s DNS service, known as Rout53, isn’t free. And it now charges me 51 cents per domain per month. Other than this, no other hidden charges. So, you are running a service or application running under their assigned sub-domains.

I would like to mention another important thing that I have experienced myself. If you attach a dedicated elastic IP to your EC2 instance, you need to make sure that IP is not unused. For each unused IP, you will be charged at an hourly rate.

How Do I Know Whether I am Being Charged Or Not?

Yes, this is also a very important factor. Amazon won’t restrict you from using their services. If you are not aware of what you are going to use, you may get charged for some services. Thus, you will be surprised when the next credit card bill reaches you.

To be careful from the beginning, sign up for the Amazon Cloud Watch service, which also has a free usage tier and will help you become safe from unexpected charges. Set an alarm for your billing metrics following the three easy steps given below:

First, create an alarm for ‘billing’ metrics. You can also create alarms for other AWS services, which are outlined here as options.

In the second step, you will have the option to enter details such as the name and description of your cloud-watch alarm. Fill out the fields and click ‘next.’

In the third and last step, you can set up an email notification service. If you add this, you will receive an email when an alarm is triggered. However, you should be careful about this service, as it is limited to the free tier and can be charged for a large number of email notifications.

Further References:

You can refer to the official documentation on getting started with the AWS free usage tier. Let me know if you are having any difficulty by commenting here. Also, please keep in touch for the upcoming AWS tutorials 🙂